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In his address to the annual
Christmas dinner of the Integri-
ty Commission last Monday,
chairman Ken Gordon revealed
that the commission had pro-
posed to the Cabinet last
August that a corruption index
for this country should be cre-
ated.
The proposal, on the surface,
sounds like a good idea, but the
main challenge will be with the
implementation of the index and
getting the population to trust
it. Mr Gordon told the dinner
that there would be a "baseline
survey with subsequent annual
surveys to update the index."
Using opinion polling method-
ologies to target approximately
5,000 people for particular sec-
tors that would yield a margin
of error of about three or four
per cent would provide a useful
sample.
The primary targets of this
local survey would be the pri-
vate sector, civil society, non-
governmental organisations,
police, armed forces, public offi-
cials, local government bodies
and investors.
The commission needs to be
more transparent with the pub-
lic by providing details that
reveal who they are working
with at the University of the
West Indies. Just saying that
they are working with the UWI
does not tell the nation who the
architects of this proposal are. If
the commission wants to get
stakeholder support, it must
provide more details about the
project now that the chairman
has broken the proverbial ice to
reveal it.
In speaking about the annual
Transparency Institute Corrup-
tion Perception Index, he made
the point that it was only a
reflection of a perception of
corruption. What the Integrity
Commission was now seeking to
propose for T&T was "a corrup-
tion barometer, designed to
specifically measure the occur-
rence of actual corruption in
T&T."
The proposal seems to want
to measure what it would call
"actual corruption" as opposed
to measuring a "perception of
corruption." If the survey is to
make that kind of qualitative
difference, then it will be deal-
ing with actual whistleblowers
as opposed to people who just
happen to feel that there is
actual corruption taking place.
The culture of corruption is
not just a matter of measuring
the stories of whistleblowers as
opposed to people s perceptions;
it must understand the extent to
which the core value systems of
what is taught at home and in
schools transmit themselves
throughout the society as people
grow older.
The ability of the very
Integrity Commission to portray
itself as a paragon of virtue and
trust has faced its own chal-
lenges over the years.
The impotence of the court
systems that are supposed to
support the work of the com-
mission was also highlighted in
some detail by Mr Gordon in
his address last Monday. These
comments must be absorbed if
one is to understand the chal-
lenges that the country faces in
tackling the issue.
With the kinds of allegations
that have been made over the
years about corruption among
different governments that have
come and gone, is there a prob-
lem, seeing that no accounting
officers have been charged with
any offences, or has the com-
mission missed the mark?
The culture of corruption is not just a matter of measuring the stories of whistleblowers as
opposed to people's perceptions; it must understand the extent to which the core value systems of
what is taught at home and in schools transmit themselves throughout the society as people grow
older.
A product of Guardian Media Ltd
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According to US media reports, Chinese and
US warships narrowly avoided a collision in
the South China Sea last week. The incident is
clear proof that the intensive operations of
the US navy in China's coastal waters repre-
sent a growing risk to China's national secu-
rity.
Even before the full account of the incident
is made available, details revealed by the US
media show the US should be held responsi-
ble for the incident.
Citing US military sources, Reuters reported
on Friday that a US guided missile cruiser in
the South China Sea was forced to take eva-
sive action last week to avoid a collision with
a Chinese warship maneuvering nearby. The
US warship was operating in the vicinity of
China's aircraft carrier the Liaoning, which is
on a preannounced training mission in the wa-
ters.
Given the behaviour of US warships and
military planes near China's coast in recent
years, it is clear the US warship was spying
and even harassing the Chinese ships. And by
crying for others to follow its rules, the US is
only flaunting its military muscles while re-
connoitering on another's doorstep.
In fact, with the Chinese navy increasing its
inshore and offshore exercises, foreign war-
ships and military planes, including those
from the United States, have been keeping
close by and sometimes ignoring the interna-
tional custom of respecting the preannounced
exercise zone. It is the US conduct alone that
is dangerous to vessels and personnel from
both sides.
The two countries have agreed to build a
new type of major-country relations, and
deepening mutual trust, better managing
their crises and avoiding strategic misjudg-
ments have to be part of that u.
Actions born of unfounded suspicions of
motive only increase strategic mutual dis-
trust. ---China Daily/AP
A26
SATURDAY,
DECEMBER 21,
2013
• Twitter: @GuardianTT • Web: guardian.co.tt
Trusting a corruption index the challenge